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Japanese Americans Essay, Research
Paper

Japanese Americans

The Japanese Americans have
maintained loyalty to the United States throughout

the history of there immigration
beginning in 1843 (Leathers, 6). Over the years, they have persevered
through the trials and tribulations of discrimination and prejudice.
The white community often discriminated them because of the
misunderstanding of their language and culture. They overcame this
obstacle, and became productive citizens of the United States of
America.

The immigration of the Japanese into
the United States was first recorded in 1843. Because of the strong
currents and winds, sea traders and fishing fleets from many nations
learned to exploit these winds and currents to travel from East Asia
toward North America. Japanese seafarers were among this group. The
first Japanese to come to the United States were accidental visitors-
shipwreck survivors who were rescued by U.S. vessels. Over the next
few decades, several such incidents occurred, but these incidents
only involved a few sailors. Only a few remained to live in the
United States permanently. By 1880 fewer than 150 Japanese lived in
the U.S. (Leathers, 6-7).

This number stayed so low because it
was illegal for most Japanese to emigrate from their home country.
However, in 1885, the Japanese government eased it?s restrictions on
emigration (Leathers, 7). Through this action the number of Japanese
in the United States and Hawaii increased rapidly. At this time,
Hawaii was not yet part of the United States. During the 1890s, the
average number of Japanese entering the United States increased by
about 1,000. In 1900, more than 12,000 Japanese entered the U.S.
(Leathers, 7-8).

In 1924, immigration of Japanese was
virtually halted when a new immigration law was passed by the U.S.
Congress to prohibit the entry of Asians. Significant immigration of
Japanese to American did not resume until the late 1940s (Leathers,
8). According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service,
only 450,359 Japanese immigrated to the United States between 1820
and 1988. Japanese immigration to the United States constitute less
than 10 percent of the total of Asian immigrants between 1820 and
1988 (Leathers, 8).

The Japanese word Issei is used for
any person who was born in Japan but later moved to another country-
a first generation immigrant. A Nisei is an immigrant?s son or
daughter who was born outside of Japan. The third generation, the
Sansei, are the daughters and sons of the Nisei. The fourth
generation, the Yonsei, are the children of the Sansei
(www.honolulu.miningco.com, 1). Japanese immigrants to the United
States nurture a strong awareness of their ancestry. Japanese
Americans classify themselves into specific groups depending on know
many generations have passed since a person?s family immigrated to
the United States (Leathers, 8).

There were two major reasons for the
sudden increase in Japanese immigration. The Chinese Exclusion Act of
1882 stopped the immigration from China to America. This was passed
because of the concern over Chinese labor flooding the market and
leaving few jobs for the Americans. However, a result of the act was
labor shortage in the western part of our country. Thus, there was a
demand for Japanese immigrants who were good farm laborers and who
would work for low wages. Another factor which helped stimulate
Japanese immigration was a law passed by the Japanese Government in
1896. This Emigrants Protections Law required that each departing
worker have someone responsible for his financial support so that if
he became ill, he would not suffer. This law intended to keep those
who emigrated well taken care of (Leathers, 12). Because of the
financial requirements many families could not afford to support an
emigrant to the United States. As a result, emigration companies
furnished the Japanese emigrant with the necessary financial
assistance and guaranteed him a job in the U.S. (Leathers, 12).

The life of Japanese immigrants in
America was not found to be what the average immigrant expected. Many
found that the stories of the great wealth and the wonderful life in
the United States were greatly exaggerated. Unskilled workers became
agricultural laborers worked for lower wages than native Americans
who were performing the same kind of work. The types of work which
the Japanese found varied greatly. Farming, merchandising, domestic
service, railways, factory work, canneries, dairying, plant
nurseries, fisheries, and clerical tasks claimed most of the new
immigrants. However, by 1920, there were also more than 350
Japanese-Americans employed as professionals (Leathers, 14-15).

Most immigrants were men between the
age of 20 and 40. The imbalance of men to women varied greatly, by
about three to one. As a result, many Japanese men married women from
Japan and brought them to the United States. A male immigrant in the
U.S. did not often have the money or the time to return to Japan, so
a practice known as a “picture bride” marriage developed (Kitano,
46-47). This long-distance form of courtship received its name
because it often involved an exchange of photographs between a man in
the United States and a women in Japan. The immigrant would then send
a letter home telling his parents telling them that he wanted to
marry a suitable women. Investigations would then take place, and if
both parties seemed satisfactory, the marriage would be performed
while the husband was in the U.S. The Japanese government would
permit the bride to join her new husband in the United States
(Kitano, 47-48).

Picture bride marriage seemed strange
to many non-Japanese Americans and this helped build prejudice
against Japanese immigrants. In 1921, the Japanese government
announced that it would discontinue issuing passports to picture
brides because of the American opposition (Kitano, 46).

From the beginning Japanese were
unable to become naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1870,
Congress passed an act that stated persons of African ancestry could
now be granted citizenship; however, this still excluded people from
Asia. Few immigrants managed to gain citizenship, because, in some
cases, the law was not strictly enforced. Because of this exclusion
this gave rise to the hatred that developed against the Japanese in
America, especially in California (Leathers, 25).

Hostility against the Japanese
surfaced in San Francisco. After the mayor Eugene E. Schmitz and his
political boss, were charged with corruption in office, they tried to
divert public attention by blaming the social problems on the
Japanese. Hostility grew amongst the American public. In 1906, the
San Francisco school board ruled that Japanese-American students
could no longer go to school with students of European descent. All
children of Japanese descent attended a separate “Oriental school”
in Chinatown (www.askasia.org, 1).

In 1913, the California legislature
passed the Alien Land Law of 1913. This law banned the purchase of
farmland by anyone who was not eligible for citizenship. This
targeted the Japanese immigrants. Although there were pleas from the
president, he was unable to persuade the legislature passed the Alien
Land Law (Leathers, 28).

Although the hostility and prejudice
against the Japanese Americans was great during the early 1900s, the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, intensified this prejudice.
As a result, President Roosevelt, declared that all people of
Japanese descent, American or not, were enemy aliens. They were to be
relocated to detention camps throughout the nation. Though there was
no evidence of a single case of Japanese-American espionage
throughout the war, the executive order authorized the wholesale
deportation of 70,000 U.S. citizens of Japanese descent and 42,00
Japanese resident aliens (www.thesierraweb.com, 1).

Japanese Americans responded
voluntarily to the evacuation notices. Families could only take what
they could carry. Life in the detention camps was strictly
controlled. Barbed wire fences and towers with armed guards
surrounded the camps. Some Nisei were able to leave the detention
camps, after being permitted by the government ( Kitano, 58).

In 1943, the military started
accepting American born Japanese. Many Japanese Americans were eager
to prove their loyalty by serving in the military. The
Japanese-American soldiers received great public attention for their
valor throughout the Pacific and Europe. Through the dedication and
patriotism of the men who participated 442d, the view and attitudes
towards the Japanese Americans was changing (Kitano,60-61).

The war changed traditional roles for
the Japanese Americans. By the 1950?s the same schools that had
barred Japanese students were found hiring Nisei as teachers. The
acceptance of Hawaii as the 50th state of the Union marked a
milestone in the Japanese-American society. Hawaii had become the
first American state to elect public officials of Japanese ancestry
(Kitano, 61-62).

In a 1980 census, more than 700,000
Japanese Americans resided in the United States. Slightly more women
than men made up this group, and their median age was 33.6 years.
More than 90 percent lived in urban areas. Almost 70 percent of
persons of Japanese ancestry residing in the United States were born
here (Kitano, 63).

Japanese-Americans have become
prominent contributors to today?s society. Jokichi Takamine arrived
in the United States in 1884 and began working to isolate adrenaline.
In 1985, Ellison Onizuka became the first descendant of Japanese
immigrants to fly in space. He was a mission specialist on the
classified military flight of the space shuttle Discovery in 1985.
However, in 1986, he was a member of the tragic flight of the space
shuttle Challenger. (Kitano 75)

The contributions of the
Japanese-Americans to our country have been great. Their industry and
good citizenship are widely known to those familiar with them. They
have become scientists, journalists, entertainers, businessmen,
farmers, and have entered into a wide diversity of occupations
throughout the history of the United States. Juvenile delinquency is
practically unknown in Japanese-American groups. The Japanese have
served a great service for all Americans. They have endured
prejudice, insult, physical harm, loss of property, and the
evacuation from their homes. Despite these hardships, they have
maintained a loyalty to the United States and served all Americans.
(Leathers, 68) This proves true to all Americans that the color of
skin, religion, physical appearance, or religion have nothing to do
with the patriotism one has for it?s country.